Evaluating the Drake Equation

Use the Drake Equation calculator at the SETI Institute to try and estimate the number of technological civilizations, for different possible assumptions about the various terms that go into the equation.

1. Read the description of the different terms in the Drake equation. When you understand what all the terms are, go to the calculator page.
2. First try the most optimistic estimates for all the terms in the equation. What number of technological civilizations do you come up with in this case?
3. Use your number for the optimistic case to try and estimate the distance from the Solar System to the nearest star with a technological civilization. To make the estimate, assume that there are 10 billion stars in our galaxy, and that there are 25 stars within 13 lightyears of the Solar System.
4. Now repeat the calculation for a pessimistic number. How many times smaller that the optimistic case number is the pessimistic case number?
5. Try estimating the distance to the nearest technological civilization for the pessimistic case.

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